Free Republic

The Federal Election Commission has ruled foreign donors can finance U.S. referendum campaigns, opening the door to foreign spending on fights over high-profile policy issues, Axios has learned. Why it matters: Foreign nationals are barred from donating to U.S. political candidates or committees. But the FEC's decision — allowing them to support ballot committees — provides another avenue for foreigners to directly influence U.S. voters and domestic policy. A major question stemming from the decision is whether foreign nationals are now permitted to spend money to influence the actual mechanisms of the U.S. democratic process. That would include congressional redistricting,...

Nearly three-dozen corporate PACs have donated at least $5,000 to Republicans who objected to certifying the 2020 election, yet Toyota leads by a substantial margin [a WHOPPING $55,000]. Why it matters: Following Jan. 6, huge segments of corporate America rethought their political-giving programs. The new numbers suggest some large companies have decided to maintain support — even for members of Congress deeply enmeshed in the pro-Trump conspiracy theories that fueled the Capitol attack... **snip** ...What they're saying: "We do not believe it is appropriate to judge members of Congress solely based on their votes on the electoral certification," a Toyota...

Former Olympic decathlete and reality TV star Caitlyn Jenner has filed her initial paperwork to run for governor of California and will officially announce her bid later today, her campaign tells Axios. The big picture: Jenner, a longtime Republican, is seeking to replace Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom in a recall election, hoping her celebrity status and name recognition can yield an upset in the nation's most populous state. But in deep-blue California, she's decidedly not branding herself as a Trump Republican even as she's counting on some of the former president's advisers to drive her strategy. She's assembled a team...

Dan Bongino has filed a $15 million defamation lawsuit against liberal, online publication the Daily Beast after the website refused to retract and correct a false story it posted about him. The federal complaint, filed today in the Southern District of Florida calls the Daily Beast a “digital assassin owned and controlled by billionaire Clinton-devotees” and states that the website published an article on Dec 10, 2018 claiming Dan was “dropped” from NRATV when in fact, he did not renew his contract. Prior to posting the false and defamatory story, the author of the article, Lachlan Markay texted Dan and...

A pair of right-wing provocateurs are being accused of attempting to recruit young Republican men to level false allegations of sexual assault against Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg. The details of the operatives’ attempt emerged as one man suddenly surfaced with a vague and uncorroborated allegation that Buttigieg had assaulted him. The claim was retracted hours later on a Facebook page appearing to belong to the man. A Republican source told The Daily Beast that lobbyist Jack Burkman and internet troll Jacob Wohl approached him last week to try to convince him to falsely accuse Buttigieg, the mayor of South...

A series of last-minute direct-mail pieces are seeking to depress Republican turnout in key congressional races, and whoever is behind the mailers is a mystery, drawing allegations of illegal politicking...the Rosendale campaign identified the company Allied Printing Resources...and its work with Democratic organizations...particularly the League of Conservation Voters...Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and EMILY’s List...

The former hedge fund of one of the Democratic Party’s most important donors was involved in a scheme to defraud foreign investors out of tens of millions of dollars, according to documents filed in a Texas court. Farallon Capital Partners L.P., a fund run by Farallon Capital Management, the multibillion-dollar hedge fund founded by Democratic donor Tom Steyer, became a limited partner in a project to build a large shopping mall near Seattle, Wash., in the mid-1990s after it guaranteed a line of credit for the project.